Our Father in Heaven, Majestic is Your Name!

April 19, 2020

A pastoral prayer that expands on each element of the Lord's Prayer. Offered on April 19, 2020 at Grace Bible Church in Escondido, CA. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a video of the prayer, Scripture reading, and sermon was made available online for the congregation.

I composed the prayer using ideas from A Way to Pray by Matthew Henry and Leading in Prayer: A Workbook for Worship by Hughes Oliphant Old.

Our Father in heaven,
majestic is your name!
From the rising of the sun to its setting
your name is to be praised.

Lord of heaven above,
you are God and you alone.

You are the eternal God
from whom,
through whom,
and for whom are all things.

We give all praise
and honor
and glory to you.

Hear our prayers
in the name of Jesus,
for we come to you through him.
He is our Great High Priest;
our intercessor and mediator.

Enable us,
by the power of your Holy Spirit,
to offer our prayers to you
with confidence
that your ear is open to us,
with trust
that you are willing
and able to answer us,
for the glory of your name
and our everlasting good.

Hallowed Be Your Name

Our Father in heaven,
we rejoice in the great privilege we have
to call you our Father through Jesus Christ, your Son.

How amazing is the love you’ve lavished on us
that we should be called children of God!
We rejoice that we call upon you
not merely as individuals,
but as members of a great family
that transcends race and nationality and social status.

Our Father in heaven,
our prayer this morning
is that your name would be hallowed,
that your name would be glorified,
among us and throughout the world.

May we treat your name as holy.
May our thoughts and our words and our deeds
reflect your holiness.

Your Kingdom Come

Our Father in heaven,
You are a great King
and even now you reign over all.
But we pray, let your kingdom come.
May it come in all its fullness.

Hasten the day when Christ returns
and all evil is banished forever
and the earth is filled
with the knowledge of the glory of God
as the waters cover the sea.

As we worship in your presence today,
may we anticipate living before you
in the world to come.

We pray that your kingdom would advance
in this world through the preaching of the gospel.
Enable us as a church
to faithfully proclaim
the good news here in Escondido.
Help us to be winsome
and gracious witnesses to the gospel
with our friends and families and neighbors.
Open their eyes and ears to the truth.
Grant them repentance and faith.

O Lord, bless the work of our missionaries
and partners in missions …
Plant your gospel deep in the hearts
of the men and women to whom they minister.

Keep these families safe
from the virus wreaking havoc on our world.
We think especially of …
Continue to grant her health and strength
as she recovers from COVID-19.

Your Will Be Done

Our Father in heaven,
let your will be done on earth
as it is in heaven.

Give us grace to know and do your will.
Sanctify us, O God.
Enable us to love and obey your commands.
as people who have been raised to new life with Christ,
as people who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Daily Bread

Our Father in heaven,
give us today our daily bread.

We’ve been reminded in recent weeks
that grocery stores with overflowing shelves
are not a given.

We thank you for this reminder
of our dependence on you.
Your are the great Provider,
so we ask you to supply us with what we need.

May we share the resources you’ve given us
with those among us who have lost jobs
or had their work hours reduced.

Grant healing to those who are sick and suffering.
We think of … and … and …
and other family members and friends
who have been infected with the coronavirus.

May they put their trust wholly in you.
May they rest in your wisdom
and sovereignty and goodness.

Forgive Us

Our Father in heaven,
forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

You have created and re-created us
to live in true righteousness and holiness.
But we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you
with our whole heart and mind and strength.
We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
If you were to keep a record of our sins,
who could stand before you?

But with you there is forgiveness
that you may be feared and loved and trusted.

We thank you for Jesus’ perfect sacrifice for our sins.
We praise you that we have received
full forgiveness of our sins: past, present, and future.

May we have full assurance
that our guilt has been taken away
and that we stand before you
clothed in the spotless righteousness of Jesus Christ.

As evidence that our sins have been forgiven,
give us grace to forgive those who’ve wronged us.

By your Spirit enable us
to put off bitterness and anger and hardness of heart.
Make us kind and tenderhearted.
Work in us so that we might forgive one another
as you have forgiven us in Christ.

May the gentleness, the humility,
and the forgiveness of Christ characterize us as a church.

Deliver Us

Our Father in heaven, lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Keep us from walking right into temptation’s path.
Lead us into paths of truth and righteousness.

Guard us from the evil one.
Help us to stand against his evil schemes.
Strengthen us to stand firm in your truth.
Enable us to battle doubts and fears and worry
with your great and precious promises.
Protect and preserve us.

Conclusion

Our Father in heaven,
We bring these requests to you
because yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever.

You’ve promised to grant our requests
when we ask in Jesus’ name.
Fulfill now the desires of our heart,
for we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit
is eternally praised. Amen.